Quintus Curtius Rufus, History of Alexander 9.7

9.7.1

Haec dum in India geruntur, Graeci milites nuper in colonias a rege deducti circa Bactra orta inter ipsos seditione defecerant non tam Alexandro infensi quam metu supplicii.

While these things were doing in India, the Greek soldiers who had been recently drafted by the king into settlements around Bactra disagreed among themselves and revolted, for the stronger faction, having killed some of their countrymen who remained loyal, had recourse to arms, and making themselves masters of the citadel of Bactra, which happened to be carelessly guarded, forced even the barbarians to join their party. Their leader was Athenodorus, who had also assumed the title of king, not so much from an ambition to reign as from a wish to return to his native country along with those who acknowledged his authority. Against his life one Biton, a citizen of the same Greek state as himself, but who hated him from envy, laid a plot, and having invited him to a banquet, had him assassinated during the festivities by the hands of a native of Margiana called Boxus. The day following Biton, in a general meeting which had been convoked, persuaded the majority that Athenodorus had without any provocation formed a plot to take away his life. Others, however, suspected there had been foul play on Biton's part, and by degrees this suspicion spread itself about among the rest. The Greek soldiers, therefore, took up arms to put Biton to death should an opportunity present itself.

9.7.2

Quippe occisis quibusdam popularium, qui validiores erant, arma spectare coeperunt et Bactriana arce, quae quasi tuta neglegentius adservata erat, occupata barbaros quoque in societatem defectionis inpulerant.

9.7.3

Athenodorus erat princeps eorum, qui regis quoque nomen adsumpserat non tam imperii cupidine quam in patriam revertendi cum iis, qui auctoritatem ipsius sequebantur.

9.7.4

Huic Biton quidam nationis eiusdem, sed ob aemulationem infestus conparavit insidias invitatumque ad epulas per Boxum quendam Bactrianum in convivio occidit.

9.7.5

Postero die contione advocata Bito nitro insidiatum sibi Athenodorum plerisque persuaserat: sed aliis suspecta erat fraus Bitonis, et paulatim in plures coepit manare suspicio.

9.7.6

Itaque Graeci milites arma capiunt occisuri Bitonem, si daretur occasio: ceterum principes eorum iram multitudinis mitigaverunt.

But the leading men appeased the anger of the multitude, and Biton being thus freed from his imminent danger, contrary to what he had anticipated, soon afterwards conspired against the very man to whom he owed his safety. But when his treachery came to their knowledge they seized both Biton himself and Boxus. The latter they ordered to be at once put to death, but Biton not till after he had undergone torture. The instruments for this purpose were already being applied to his limbs when the soldiers, it is not known why, ran to their arms like so many madmen. On hearing the uproar they made, the men who had orders to torture Biton desisted from their office, thinking that the object of the rioters, whom they had heard shouting, was to prevent them going on with their work. Biton, stripped as he was, ran for protection to the Greeks, and the sight of the wretched man sentenced to death caused such a revulsion of their feelings that they ordered him to be set at liberty. Having twice escaped punishment, he returned to his native country with the rest of those who left the colonies which the king had assigned to them. These things were done about Bactra and the borders of Scythia. In the meantime a hundred ambassadors came to the king from the two nations we have before mentioned. They all rode in chariots and were men of uncommon stature and of a very dignified bearing. Their robes were of linen and embroidered with inwrought gold and purple.

9.7.7

Praeter spem suam Biton praesenti periculo ereptus paulo post est insidiatus auctoribus salutis suae. Cuius dolo cognito et ipsum conprehenderunt et Boxum.

9.7.8

Ceterum Boxum protinus placuit interfici, Bitonem etiam per cruciatum necari. Iamque corpori tormenta admovebantur, cum Graeci — incertum, ob quam causam — lymphatis similes ad arma discurrunt.

9.7.9

Quorum fremitu exaudito, qui torquere Bitonem iussi erant, omisere veriti, ne id facere tumultuantium vociferatione prohiberentur.

9.7.10

Ille, sicut nudatus erat, pervenit ad Graecos, et miserabilis facies supplicio destinati in diversum animos repente mutavit, dimittique eum iusserunt.

9.7.11

Hoc modo poena bis liberatus cum ceteris, qui colonias a rege attributas reliquerunt, revertit in patriam. Haec circa Bactra et Scytharum terminos gesta.

9.7.12

Interim regem duarum gentium, de quibus ante dictum est, C legati adeunt. Omnes curru vehebantur eximia magnitudine corporum, decoro habitu: lineae vestes in texto auro purpuraque distinctae.

9.7.13

Ei se dedere ipsos, urbes agrosque referebant, per tot aetates inviolatam libertatem illius primum fidei dicionique permissuros: deos sibi deditionis auctores, non metum: quippe intactis viribus iugum excipere.

They informed him that they surrendered into his hands themselves, their cities, and their territories, and that he was the first to whose authority and protection they had intrusted their liberty which for so many ages they had preserved inviolate. The gods, they said, were the authors of their submission and not fear, seeing that they had submitted to his yoke while their strength was quite unbroken. The king at a meeting of his council accepted their proffer of submission and allegiance, and imposed on them the tribute which the two nations paid in instalments to the Arachosians. He further ordered them to furnish him with 2500 horsemen, all which commands were faithfully carried out by the barbarians. After this he gave orders for the preparation of a splendid banquet to which he invited the ambassadors and the petty kings of the neighbouring tribes. Here a hundred couches of gold had been placed at a small distance from each other, and these were hung round with tapestry curtains which glittered with gold and purple. In a word he displayed at this entertainment all that was corrupt in the ancient luxury of the Persians as well as in the new-fangled fashions which had been adopted by the Macedonians, thus intermixing the vices of both nations.

9.7.14

Rex coasilio habito deditos in fidem accepit stipendio, quod Arachosiis utraque natio pensitabat, inposito: praeterea milia et D equites imperat. Et omnia oboedienter a barbaris facta.

9.7.15

Invitatis deinde ad epulas legatis gentium regulisque exornari convivium iussit. C aurei lecti modicis intervallis positi erant, lectis circumdederat aulaea purpura auroque fulgentia, quidquid aut apud Persas vetere luxu aut apud Macedonas nova inmutatione corruptum erat, confusis utriusque gentis vitiis in illo convivio ostendens.

9.7.16

Intererat epulis Dioxippus Atheniensis, pugil nobilis et ob eximiam virtutem virium iam et regi pernotus et gratus. In vidi malignique increpabant per seria et ludum saginati corporis sequi inutilem beluam: cum ipsi proelium imirent, oleo madentem praeparare ventrem epulis.

At this banquet there was present Dioxippus the Athenian, a famous boxer, who on account of his surprising strength was already well known to the king, and one even of his favourites. Some there were who from envy and malice used to carp at him between jest and earnest, remarking they had a full-fed good-for-nothing beast in their company, who when others went forth to fight would rub himself with oil and take exercise to get up his appetite. Now at the banquet a Macedonian called Horrcxtus, who was by this time "flown with wine," began to taunt him in the usual style, and challenged him, if he were a man, to fight him next day with his sword, after which the king would judge of his temerity or of the cowardice of Dioxippus. The terms of the challenge were accepted by Dioxippus, who treated with contempt the bravado of the insolent soldier. The king finding next day that the two men were more than ever bent on fighting, and that he could not dissuade them, allowed them to do as they pleased. The soldiers came in crowds to witness the affair, and among others Greeks who backed up Dioxippus.

9.7.17

Eadem igitur in convivio Corratas Macedo iam temulentus exit probrare ei coepit et postulare, ut, si vir esset, postero die secum ferro decerneret: regem tandem vel de sua temeritate vel de illius ignavia iudicaturum.

9.7.18

Et a Dioxippo contemptim militarem eludente ferociam accepta condicio est. Ac postero die rex, cum etiam acrius certamen exposcerent, quia deterrere non poterat, destinata exequi passus est.

9.7.19

Ingens vis militum, inter quos erant Graeci, Dioxippo studebant. Macedo iusta arma sumpserat, aereum clipeum hastamque — sarisam vocant — laeva tenens, dextera lanceam gladioque cinctus, velut cum pluribus simul dimicaturus:

The Macedonian came with the proper arms, carrying in his left hand a brazen shield and the long spear called the sarissa, and in his right a javelin. He wore also a sword by his side as if he meant to fight with several opponents at once. Dioxippus again entered the ring shining with oil, wearing a garland about his brows, having a scarlet cloak wrapped about his left arm, and carrying in his right hand a stout knotty club. This singular mode of equipment kept all the spectators for a time in suspense, because it seemed not temerity but downright madness for a naked man to engage with one armed to the teeth. The Macedonian accordingly, not doubting for a moment but that he could kill his adversary from a distance, cast his javelin at him, but this Dioxippus avoided by a slight bending of his body, and before the other could shift the long pike to his right hand, sprang upon him and broke the weapon in two by a stroke of his club. The Macedonian, having thus lost two of his weapons, prepared to draw his sword, but Dioxippus closed with him before he was ready to wield it, and suddenly tripping up his heels, knocked him down as with a blow from a battering-ram. He then wrested his sword from his grasp, planted his foot on his neck as he lay prostrate, and brandishing his club would have brained him with it, had he not been prevented by the king.

9.7.20

Dioxippus oleo nitens et coronatus laeva puniceum amiculum, dextra validum nodosumque stipitem praeferebat.

9.7.21

Ea ipsa res omnium animos expectatione suspenderat: quippe armato congredi nudum dementia, non temeritas videbatur. Igitur Macedo, haud dubius eminus interfici posse, lanceam emisit. Quam Dioxippus cum exigua corporis declinatione vitasset, antequam ille hastam transferret in dextram, adsiluit et stipite mediam eam fregit.

9.7.22

Amisso utroque telo Macedo gladium coeperat stringere, cum occupatum conplexu pedibus repente subductis Dioxippus arietavit in terram ereptoque gladio pedem super cervicem iacenti inposuit stipitem intentans elisurusque eo victum, ni prohibitus esset a rege.

9.7.23

Tristis spectaculi eventus non Macedonibus modo, sed etiam Alexandro fuit, maxime quia barbari adfuerant: quippe celebratam Macedonum fortitudinem ad ludibrium recidisse querebatur.

The result of the match was mortifying not only to the Macedonians, but even to Alexander himself, for he saw with vexation that the vaunted bravery of the Macedonians had fallen into contempt with the barbarians who attended the spectacle. This made the king lend his ear all too readily to the accusations of those who owed Dioxippus a grudge. So at a feast which he attended a few days afterwards a golden bowl was by a private arrangement secretly taken off the table, and the attendants went to the king to complain of the loss of the article which they themselves had hidden. It often enough happens that one who blushes at a false insinuation has less control of his countenance than one who is really guilty. Dioxippus could not bear the glances which were turned upon him as if he were the thief, and so when he had left the banquet he wrote a letter which he addressed to the king, and then killed himself with his sword. The king took his death much to heart, judging that the man had killed himself from sheer indignation, and not from remorse of conscience, especially since the intemperate joy of his enemies made it clear that he had been falsely accused.

9.7.24

Hinc ad criminationem invidorum adapertae sunt regis aures. Et post paucos dies inter epulas aureum poculum ex conposito subducitur, ministrique, quasi amisissent, quod amoverant, regem adeunt.

9.7.25

Saepe minus est constantiae in rubore, quam in culpa: coniectum oculorum, quibus ut fur destinabatur, Dioxippus ferre non potuit et, cum excessisset convivio, litteris conscriptis, quae regi redderentur, ferro se interemit.

9.7.26

Graviter mortem eius tulit rex existimans indignationis esse, non paenitentiae testem, utique postquam falso insimulatum eum nimium invidorum gaudium ostendit.